Anne relaxed her clasp and went to order coffee.

Lady Cannon was looking angrily in the glass when Hyacinth came in.

'Oh, here you are, my dear. I'm glad I didn't miss you. I wanted to
speak to you about something.'

'Yes, Auntie.'

Lady Cannon coughed, and said rather portentously, 'You must not be
offended with me, dear. You know, in a sense I'm, as it were, in the
place of your mother--or, at any rate, your stepmother.'

'Yes.'

'Of course you're perfectly free to do exactly as you like, but I heard
in a roundabout way something that rather surprised me about you.'

'What is it?'

'We were dining with some friends last night' (it was characteristic of
Lady Cannon not to mention their names), 'where we happened to meet that
young couple, the Ottleys. You know Mrs Ottley very well, I believe?'

'Edith is my greatest friend,' said Hyacinth.

'Quite so; she seems a very nice young woman. Very devoted to her
husband. And I think him a most superior man! He sat next to me at
dinner, and I had quite a long talk with him. We spoke of you. He told
me something that surprised me so much. He said that you had been seen